Carnarvon Lake Bike and Hike

Trailhead:Park
in the Cat Creek recreation area parking lot 129kms
west of Calgary located on Highwood
Trail #40 highway.Note: Highway #40 is closed at the Upper Lakes and
Highwood House Junction from Dec 1st to June 14th for wildlife preservation.

Description:
Wow, possibly the nicest tarn lake in Alberta. This is part of Lake of
The Horns and Loomis Lake trails You will
have to cross the Highwood River so expect to get
your feet wet. Locate the
old logging road at the end of the
parking lot heading north along the
Highwood River. Follow the logging road
approximately 2.5kms
to the Highwood River, cross the
river and
take the left Carnarvon logging road
fork. The right fork leads to another gem called Lake Of The
Horns. Follow the road
along Carnarvon Creek. Cross the
creek and continue on the road as it slowly starts to climb up the
valley. Make lots of
noise and keep your eye's out for
bears. All the valleys in this
area are prime
Grizzly Bear
habitat. At about
5.5kms
the trail intersects with another
logging road that drops down to your
left. Stay on
the main road straight until you arrive at a high
open point looking down towards the
bottom of the headwall. Stash your bikes here then
hike down the scree trail leading
to the bottom of the headwall. Near
the bottom keep
your eyes out for a faint trail
junction leading off to your right. It may be marked by ground rocks and a log
pointing the direction.
Take the trail on your right and
work your way up the rock and scree
slope towards the bottom of the
headwalls waterfall. Once you
reach the base of the waterfall
locate a chain to your right
that is bolted to the rock face. If
you're faint of heart you may want
to avoid this hike as a fall
from here could be fatal. Work your
way up approximately 20ms of chain until you reach safe ground
then hike a short distance to the
top of the headwall. As you crest
the headwall, Carnarvon Lake lies at
your feet.

Carnarvon Lake is
absolutely stunning. It's crystal clear and a beautiful Caribbean blue color. It may be the nicest of the three headwall lakes located in this
area.
Lake Of The
Horns and
Loomis Lake
being the other two. Continue on
hiking along the right shore of the lake towards a few small campsites that are tucked in
some low brush. From here hike up towards
the saddle overlooking the lake.
Views from the saddle are even
better and it's a great place to eat
your lunch while you ponder the
thought of stepping into British
Columbia. The top of the saddle
marks the Alberta British Columbia
boundary. Carnarvon Lake is stocked
with Cutthroat Trout however their
growth rate is very slow due to the
lack of food at higher elevations.
You'll need a
fishing
license
to try your luck.